Understanding
Academic Lectures
Intensive English Language Program at PSU
Objectives: This course is designed to help highintermediate to advanced ESL students prepare for the
demands of understanding academic lectures in university
contexts. The focus of this course is on developing skills and
strategies to increase effective lecture listening, note-taking,
and retrieval/application of information. A variety of prelistening and note-taking techniques will be presented along
with activities that require synthesis and application of notes
in both oral/written formats and individual/group contexts.
Through this course students will increase their
understanding of the academic lecture process in order to
become more effective participants in academic university
contexts.
Learning Outcomes: Students should perform the learning
outcomes with a minimum of 70% on in-class listening
activities, out-of-class listening activities, other written and
oral activities, homework, quizzes, tests, and the final exam.

Lecture Preparation
Spring 2015
Instructor: David Bunk
E-Mail: bunkd@pdx.edu
Office: 400K UCB
Office Hours: 10-12 M (& by appointment)
Class Wiki:
http://davidbunkual.pbworks.com
Textbooks & Materials:
Required Textbook: Lecture Ready 3: Strategies for Academic
Listening, Note-taking, and Discussion(second edition) Laurie
Frazier and Shalle Leeming (Oxford)
By the end of the term, students will be able to:
1.
use a variety of pre-listening tasks to activate
background knowledge in preparation for a lecture
2. strategically predict lecture content and organization
in preparation for a lecture
3. acquire content-specific vocabulary in preparation
for an academic listening task
4. recognize common academic synonyms for basic
vocabulary (repeat/recap/reiterate;
parts/issues/aspects, etc.)
The second edition of the textbook is required. The
second edition is available at the PSU Bookstore. You must
have a second edition textbook, which includes student
access to the Digital Download Center. The first edition of the
textbook is unacceptable because it is not connected with the
Digital Download Center.
Please have your own copy of the second edition textbook
for classwork. Do not plan to share materials. Used books
with previously completed activities will negatively affect
your participation grade.
Binder or folder, 8.5 x 11 inch college ruled paper, and
pencils.
Understanding Academic Lectures
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
Note-Taking:
5. recognize verbal and non-verbal lecture cues and
conventions to increase effective lecture listening and
note-taking
6. write and organize notes using/integrating a variety
of note-taking techniques, such as:
Course Calendar:
Week
2
3
Post Lecture Retrieval/Application:
10. develop strategies for filling in missing information
(requesting clarification from peers and instructor,
etc.)
13. summarize and synthesize listening information in
both oral/written formats and individual/group
contexts
14. test the accuracy of notes by using them to answer
questions representative of those on university tests
using complete and accurate information and
grammatical forms (essay questions, short-answer,
multiple-choice, and true/false)
4
note-taking practice
tasks
PSU Class
Observation
Assignment
outline format
visualorganization/outlining
note taking practice:
review outline
symbols/abbreviations
lecture 1 in-class
preparation
comparing
notes/highlighting
lecture comprehension
5
6
7
comparing
notes/highlighting
Ch. 1 quiz
lecture 2 preparation
Strategy Focus: Lecture
language
Ch. 3 quiz
lecture comprehension
lecture 3 Note
taking/activities
Proficiency Test #1
review proficiency
Ch. 4 prep
Ch. 4 group activity
Ch. 4 quiz
comparing
notes/highlighting
Ch. 5 prep
Course Components:
lecture comprehension
10%
PSU Classroom Observation Assignment
(See classroom handout for directions)
10%
Note-Taking Activities (Including the
note-taking rubric to assess notes.)
25%
diagnostic review
/numbers/organization
11. participate in oral discussions of academic listening
using complete and accurate information and
grammatical forms
12. apply content specific vocabulary to
retrieval/application tasks
outlining review
symbols and
abbreviations
9. revise and/or rewrite notes so that they are better
organized and include all relevant information

syllabus overview
note taking:
8. identify gaps in information
Thursday
Diagnostic
1
7. use symbols and abbreviations to increase note-taking
speed and accuracy
10. take notes in English with minimal first language
usage
Tuesday
Chapter Quizzes (These are shorter quizzes
on lecture language, chapter
comprehension, chapter vocabulary, short
8
Ch. 5 quiz
Ch. 6 prep
comparing
notes/highlighting
lecture comprehension
Understanding Academic Lectures
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video assessment lectures on chapter related
topics, etc.)
25%
30%
Listening and Note-Taking Skill
Proficiency Tests (These are longer lectures
and note-taking with brand new
information. Learners listen one time and
take notes in class; Teacher collects all
notes. Then learners use the notes in the
next class to take the test. Note-taking
rubric is used to assess notes.)
Comprehensive Final Exam (The final
exam covers some previous material, such
as lecture language, vocabulary, discrete
listening and note-taking strategies, but is
mostly based on showing skill achievement
by way of a new listening note-taking, and
retrieval/application tasks.)
Standards for Advancement: Scores below 70% in any of
the five grading categories above may result in failure of this
course. If you are taking any level 3 course, you must pass
that course in order to move up to the next level
Communication course.
9
Proficiency Test #2
Ch. 7 prep
Lecture 7 Note
Taking/Activities
Strategy Focus
Reviewing and practicing
all note-taking strategies
10
Prep for Final Exam
Lecture
11
Final Exam
Final Exam
Lecture(given on the
last day of class)
Holidays (school closed)
May 25th, Memorial Day (school closed)
*We will not necessarily follow this order in the textbook. I will
change the weekly objectives as the need arises.
Lecture Listening Outside of Class: A majority of the
lecture listening for this course will be completed outside of
class at the Digital Download Center for our textbook. You
must have a second edition text, and you must use the access
code on the inside of the back cover of your textbook. It is
your responsibility to listen to the lecture content outside of
class. If you don’t prepare, you will be unable to participate
in the classroom support activities and assessments.
IELP Attendance Policy: Attendance is required in all IELP classes. Attendance is required for academic reasons and to maintain
your immigration status. If you don't attend class, you will not learn, you will miss important quizzes and tests, and you will not
earn good grades. If you don't attend class, you will violate the terms of your student visa. If you don't attend class, you can be
dismissed from the IELP. In addition, you must come to class on time.
Late = 10min or later after the class begins, and 3 late arrivals = 1 absence.
o
If you are more than 10 minutes late, you will be marked absent. I will only take attendance once. If you arrive after
attendance is taken, it is your responsibility to notify me during break or before leaving the classroom in order to
remove your name from the absentee list. If you do not notify immediately, I will be unable to change your attendance
record.
o
There are no excused absences.
o
If you are absent, you are responsible for the information covered in class. You must contact the teacher or a reliable
classmate for homework and important information prior to returning to class.
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o
No make-up tests or class work will be accepted.
o
Late homework is not accepted.
o
Since much of your final grade is based on class work, it is essential that you attend every day. If you are absent on a day
that a class work grade is given, you will receive a zero
Academic Honesty: Academic dishonesty in the IELP includes but is not limited to the following type-o
Cheating on tests and other written work used for grading and student assessment as determined by the instructor.
If a student has cheated or plagiarized material that is graded, the student will receive a zero or failing grade for that work. In the
case of major assessment work (finals, research papers) this may result in failure of the class. Academic dishonesty may also result
in a formal Academic Dishonesty Incident Report that will be attached to the student’s official grade record.
Classroom Conduct: It is expected that you demonstrate the highest level of respect for your peers and your instructor. You are
also expected to fully participate in multi-cultural group activities. You are expected to participate equally and respectfully with all
members of the group regardless of cultural background. All points of view will be welcomed and respected. Statements or
behaviors that are disrespectful towards individuals or groups will not be tolerated.
Distracting behaviors are also unacceptable. Examples of distracting behaviors are: coming in late, packing up or leaving early,
using cell phones, having side conversations, interrupting the instructor or another classmate while they are speaking, etc. Please
refrain from these behaviors.
Accommodation Statement: If you have difficulty hearing, seeing, walking, or have any other condition that will make studying
in this class difficult, please tell me, and I will help you if I can.
Listening Resources in the Learning Center
1.
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
IBT TOEFL software
Short Takes Level 3 (Ask the attendant for the DVDs)
On-line Listening Websites
www.frontline.org
This website offers hour-length documentaries about a variety of current topics in the U.S, and around the world.
www.ted.com
This website has 10-15 minute speeches on a variety of topics given by influential and inspirational people all over the world.
If you choose to listen to a talk from this website that is only 10 minutes long, I will accept it as one of your entries for the biweekly assignment.
www.academicearth.com
This website has full-length lectures from university courses on a variety of topics. This is a great way to see areal university
class in action!
www.60minutes.com
This is one of the most known Sunday Evening News programs in the U.S. There are news reports about issues in the U.S. and
the world. Each segment is usually about 10-15 minutes.
http://www.cosmolearning.com/
This website has full-length lectures from university courses on a variety of topics. This is a great way to see a real university
class in action!
http://www.uctv.tv/ondemand/
This website has lectures, videos and podcasts from the University of California on a variety of topics.
http://www.youtube.com/education?lg=EN&b=400&s=mp&t=m
This is YouTube’s educational video and lecture website.
http://forum-network.org/station/wgbh
This website features lectures and talks that were aired on Public Television.
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9.
http://www.freesciencelectures.com/
This website has free science videos and lectures online.
10. http://royalsociety.org/
This website is great if you want to practice listening to lectures with speakers who have a British accent.
11. Literacy Net http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/archives.html
This site has current and older news stories that can help you practice English. Often the story has an audio file, the written
transcript and an outline of the story. Although the outlines do not use symbols and abbreviations, you can check your notes
against the outline to see if you are organizing your information correctly.
12. Lectures: http://www.english-test.net/toefl/listening/lectures.html
13. Discussions: http://www.english-test.net/toefl/listening/
This site has 50 lectures and 50 discussions to help you prepare for the TOEFL. It also has comprehension questions and
transcripts to help you.
14. http://nigelteacher.wordpress.com/links/listening/
Nigel “Teacher” Caplan’s website with links to many different listening websites.
15. www.elllo.org This website has many different activities for all levels.
16. http://www.manythings.org/ This has a variety of ESL activities for all skills.
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